1 

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7 
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Affinal 

i^rlaratton of 

mag 2l-2fi. IMH 




Southern States 

Trust Company 

Capital $200,000.00 



Assets One Million Dollars 



Commercial and Savings Bank 

4 per cent, paid in Savings Department and 
on Certificates of Deposits : : : : : 



OFFICERS: 


.•'"'-^c^----.^l" > 


DIRECTORS: 


Geoige Stephens, 


f^^^^^H|^l|^ ' -->',<, 


Jas. W. Wadsworth 


President 


•^fl^^^^^^^^^^^^^^Hj^^ ' '"'v 


H. W. Eddy 
M. B. Spier 


T. S. Franklin, 

Vice-President 


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Jno. W. Todd 
Dr. |. P. Monroe 
Jas. N. Williamson, Jr. 
J. E. Sherrill 


W. H, Wood, 


-IHH|B|Hg^^^^^^^^BB 


[. N. McCausland 


Sec'y & Treas. 


.hhH^^h 


George Stephens 
W. H. Wood 
I. C. Lowe 


J. E. Davis, 


^H^nnn ':' '^'^^^^^^^^^^^Hf 


Eugene Holt 


Ass't Sec'y & Treas. 


^R... ^f 


T. S. Franklin 



OmCES TRUST BUILDIN« 



Depository for State of North Carolina, Mecklenburg County and 
the City of Charlotte 



We are licensed by the State of North Carolina to act as Executor, 
Administrator, Guardian, Etc. 



Every form of Insurance written in our Insurance Department. 



WE SOLICIT YOUR BUSINESS 



t ^15 

.9 

.W33 
Dopy 1 



The 
Hundred and Thirty-First Anniversary 

of the 

MECKLENBURG DECLARATION OF 
INDEPENDENCE 



Souvenir Programme 



MAY 20th, 1906 



Charlotte, North CaroHna. 



Published by 
D. HATCHER WATKINSand CHARLES G. MULLEN 



Press of 
RAY PRINTING COMPANY 

Charlotte, N. C. 




MAYOR S. S. M'NINCH 
The Prime Mover in the 138th Celebration of the Mecklenburg Declaration of independence. 



Gift 
23Je'0u 



th^ Weckknburg Dularathn of 
Independence 



I. Resolved, That whosoever directly, or indirectly, 
abets, or in any way, form, or manner countenances the in- 
vasion of out rights, as attempted by the Parliament of Great 
Britian, is an enemy to this country, to America, and to the 
rights of men. 

II. Resolved, That we, the citizens of Mecklenburg 
County, do hereby dissolve the political bonds which have 
connected us with the mother country, and absolve ourselves 
from all allegiance to the British Crown, adjuring all political 
connection with a nation that has wantonly trampled on our 
rights and liberties and inhumanly shed innocent blood of 
Americans at Lexington and Concord. 

III. Resolved, That we do hereby declare ourselves a free 
and independent people ; that we are, and of right ought to be, a 
sovereign and self-governing people under the power of God 
and the General Congress ; to the maintenance of which in- 
dependence we solemnly pledge to each other our mutual 
co-operation, our lives, our fortunes, and our most sacred 
honor. 

IV. Resolved, That we hereby ordain and adopt as 
rules of conduct all and each of our former laws, and that the 
crown of Great Britian cannot be considered hereafter as 
holding any right, privileges, or immunities among us. 

V. Resolved, That all officers, both civil and military, 
in this County be entitled to exercise the same powers and 
authorities as heretofore ; that every member of this delegation 
shall henceforth be a civil officer and exercise the powers of a 
justice of the peace, issue process, hear and determine con- 



OFFICIAL PROGRAMME 



troversies according to law, preserve peace, union and har- 
mony in the County, and use every exertion to spread the love 
of liberty and country until a more general and better organized 
system of government be established. 

VI. Resolved, That a copy of these resolutions be 
transmitted by express to the President of the Continental 
Congress, assembled in Philadelphia, to be laid before that 
body. 



Abraham Alexander, 

(Chairman) 

Ephraim Brevard, 
Hezekiah J. Balch, 
John Phifer, 
James Harris, 
Wilham Kennon, 
John Ford, 
Richard Barry, 
Henry Downs, 
Ezra Alexander, 
William Graham, 
John Query, 
Hezekiah Alexander, 

Th 



John McKnitt Alexander, 

(Secretary) 
Adam Alexander, 
Charles Alexander, 
Zacheus Wilson, Sen., 
Waightstill Avery, 
Benjamm Patton, 
Matthew McClure, 
Neill Morrison, 
Robert Irwin, 
John Flenniken, 
David Reese, 
John Davidson, 
Richard Harris, Sen., 
omas Polk. 




TWENTIETH OF MAY CELEBRATION 



jR P^pcr on the Weckknburg 
Declaration 

BY GEORGE W. GRAHAM, M. D. 



ON May 19, 1775, delegates chosen by the people of Mecklen- 
burg county, North Carolina, met in "General Committee" 
at Charlotte, and ' 'after sitting in the court house all night, 
neither sleepy, hungry nor fatigued," and after discussing every 
paragraph, unanimously adopted a Declaration of Independence 
about two o'clock on the morning of May 20. A copy of the pro- 
ceedings was sent to the Continental Congress, then assembled in 
Philadelphia, for ratification. 

When Captain Jack, the bearer of the Declaration to Congress, 
arrived in Philadelphia, he found the members of that body not 
only opposed to independence individually, but actually preparing 
a petition to King George III, which was subsequently adopted and 
signed by every member of the Congress on July 8, 1775, declaring 
"we have not raised armies with the ambitious design of separating 
from Great Britain and establishing independent States. ' ' 

At the meeting of the delegates in Charlotte, John McKnitt 
Alexander was elected Secretary, and thus became custodian of 
the records. In April, 1800, 25 years after this meeting, the 
records and declaration were burned with Alexander's dwelling. 
In the meantime, however, the Old Secretary, as he is called, had 
transcribed not less than seven copies from the original resolutions, 
and after the destruction of the Declaration Alexander made two 
additional copies from memory, one of which he gave to General 
Willia n R. Davie, The other was found among his papers after 
death. One of the memory copies is known as the Davie copy. It 
contains many verbal errors, and besides, being written in past 
tense instead of the present, contains only five resolutions where 
the original has six. Alexander, however, confesses to a possible 
lapse of memory when writing the Davie paper, in the following 
certificate upon its back : 

' 'The foregoing statement, though fundamentally correct, may 
not literally correspond with the original record of the transactions 
of said delegation. ' ' 

In 1819, two years after the death of John McKnitt Alexander, 
the proceedings at Charlotte, including a duplicate of the Davie 



OFFICIAL PROGRAMME 



copy of the resolutions, were published in The Raleigh Register, 
by his son, Dr. Joseph McKnitt Alexander, with this note 
appended: "The foregoing is a true copy of the papers on the 
above subject left in my hands by John McKnitt Alexander, 
deceased." 

A copy of this publication fell into the hands of Thomas Jeffer- 
son, who wrote John Adams, "I believe it spurious, I deem it to 
be a very unjustifiable quiz." 

Although the friends of Mr. Jefferson allege that nothing was 
ever heard of the Mecklenburg Declaration previous to its publica- 
tion in The Raleigh Register in 1819, there is abundant evidence 
to prove that at least seven authentic copies of those resolutions 
were in existence before the destruction of the proceedings in the 
year 1800. Of these seven transcripts, John McKnitt Alexander, 
at the direction of the delegates, sent four to the Congress at 
Philadelphia shortly after the meeting at Charlotte adjourned; one 
to the President, and one to each of the three members from North 
Carolina. A fifth copy appeared in The Cape Fear Mercury, in 
June, 1775, that is, within 30 days after the Declaration was 
adopted. A sixth copy was supplied by Alexander to Dr. Hugh 
Williamson, who was collecting material for a history of the State, 
which copy Governor Stokes, in the preface to a pamphlet issued 
by the North Carolina Legislature in 1831, testifies to having seen 
together with a letter from Alexander in the possession of William- 
son, as early as 1793. A seventh copy, which the author says was 
obtained by him before 1800, the year the records were burned, is 
preserved in Martin's History of North Carolina. 

It is with this seventh, or Martin, copy of the Declaratian that 
we propose to deal in this paper, and we shall therefore, before 
proceeding farther, inquire who Martin was, and ascertain his pos- 
sible sources of information as to what was done at Charlotte on 
May 19-20, 1775. 

According to the preface to his history and The North Caro- 
lina University Magazine for 1893, Francois Xavier Martin at the 
age of 20 migrated from France to New Berne, North Carolina, 
where he first taught school, then published a newspaper, and 
subsequently practiced law. In 1791 2 by a joint resolution of the 
State Legislature he was engaged to compile and publish the 
British Statutes then in use in North Carolina, and in 1803 to edit 
and print the private acts of the General Assembly. The charac- 
ter of this work and the collection of materials for State history, 
which the preface says "began to engage the attention of the 



TWENTIETH OF MAY CELEBRATION 



writer as early as the year 1791," required the presence of Mr. 
Martin at the State capitol, where he had access to the public 
documents and colonial records. There he saw much of William 
Polk, George Graham and Joseph Graham, who were present when 
the Mecklenburg Declaration was adopted, and became personally 
acquainted with James Harris and Robert Irwin, two of the dele- 
gates that subscribed the resolutions, since all five of these men, 
Wheeler's History says, were successively members of the Legisla- 




MECKLENBURG COUNTY COURT HOUSE 

Showing Monument to Signers of Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence 

ture from Mecklenburg county from 1791 to 1803, the time Martin 
was serving the State and collecting material for his book. 

In 1806 Mr. Martin was elected to the General Assembly from 
the borough of New Berne, when he was again associated with 
George Graham and with Nathaniel Alexander, who at the time 
was Chief Magistrate of North North Carolina. Governor Alex- 
ander, in addition to being a citizen of Mecklenburg county, was a 



8 OFFICIAL PROGRAMME 



brother-in-law to Ephraim Brevard, who drew the Mecklenburg 
Declaration, and son-in-law to Colonel Thomas Polk, who immedi- 
ately after the adoption of the Declaration, read the resolutions 
aloud to the large concourse of the people that had assembled to 
witness the proceedings of the delegates. 

Mr. Martin's home was in Craven county, where he personally 
knew Richard Caswell, who lived in the adjoining county of Dobbs 
(now Lenoir), as both men were lawyers and contemporary attor- 
neys at the bar of New Berne and the neighboring towns for 
several years prior to the death of Caswell in 1789. Richard Cas- 
well represented the New Berne district in the Continental Con- 
gress from 1774 to 1776, and was a member of that Assembly 
when Captain Jack, the bearer of the Declaration to Congress 
arrived in Philadelphia, and is known to have received a special 
copy of the resolutions from Jack. For, as before stated, that 
messenger had been directed by the delegates at Charlotte to 
deliver copies of the proceedings to the three members from North 
Carolina, as well as the President of Congress; and when acknowl- 
edging receipt of the Declaration, Caswell, in a joint letter with 
his colleagues, Hewes and Hooper, predicted that the whole conti- 
nent would soon follow Mecklenburg's example in declaring inde- 
penence. 

Mr. Martin was appointed Federal Judge in 1809, and removed 
to Louisiana. We learn from his preface that he had completed the 
manuscript of the first two volumes of his history, begun in 1791, 
prior to leaving North Carolina for the far south. These volumes, 
which recount the State's history, including the circumstances of 
the Mecklenburg Declaration, down to the summer of 1776, were 
taken by the author in manuscript to New Orleans, to await the 
completion of a third and fourth volume, for which the preface 
informs us he had "very ample notes and material"; but owing to 
a busy life and feeble health after his arrival in Louisiana, and 
finding no opportunity of finishing volumes three and four of his 
book. Judge Martin, in 1829, printed the manuscript of volumes 
one and two without revision. Thus it appears that, although 
Martin's History was not published until 20 years after it was 
written, and ten years after Mr. Jefferson first questioned the 
authenticity of the Mecklenburg Declaration, the manuscript had 
been prepared 1791 to 1809 and shipped to New Orleans ten years 
before the controversy arose. This long delay in printing the 
manuscript, years after the appearance of the Davie copy, no 
doubt caused Mr. Bancroft and other noted historians, who 



TWENTIETH OF MAY CELE BRATION 9 

evidently failed to read his preface, to undervalue Martin's account 
of what was done at Charlotte on May 19-20, 1775. 

Martin's manuscript is shown to have been neither revised nor 
enlarged after the author became a citizen of Louisiana in 1809, by 
the fact that he refers to Captain Jack in his narrative as still 
living, where he says "James Jack, then of Charlotte, but now 
residing in the State of Georgia, was engaged to be the bearer of 
the resolutions to the President of Congress." Yet we find in 
Hunter's Sketches of Western North Carolina that Jack died in 
1822, thirteen years after Martin's History was written, and seven 
years before it went to press. That the publication of Martin's 
manuscript was deferred long after the author had written it and 
removed to the Southwest is made evident by the following remark 
in the preface: "The determination has been taken o put the 
work to press in the condition it was when it reached New 
Orleans; this has prevented any use being made of Williamson's 
History of North Carolina (printed in 1812), a copy of which did 
not reach the writer's hands until after he arrived in Louisiana." 

Additional proof that the copy of the resolutions printed by 
Martin were transcribed before the Declaration was destroyed is 
furnished by the Rev. Francis L. Hawks, D. D., LL.D., whose 
reputatiou as a divine is a sufficient guarantee of his loyalty to the 
truth. On May 20, 1857, Dr. Hawks delivered the anniversary 
address of the Twentieth of May celebration at Charlotte, and in 
the course of his remarks said that some years before, when he 
and Judge Martin resided in New Orleans, he asked that historian 
where and when he procured the copy of the Mecklenburg Declara- 
tion printed in his book, and the reply was "in the western part 
of the State prior to the year 1800." He also said, "it was not 
obtained from Alexander." 

To recapitulate : 

(1) Martin was engaged from 1791 to 1809, nearly twenty 
years, in work which gave him official access to the public docu- 
ments and colonial records of North Carolina, and, as his book 
states, gleaned from the contemporary records, magazines and 
gazettes all data pertinent to the Mecklenburg Declaration. 

(2) Martin told Dr. Hawks that he possessed a copy of that 
Declaration made before 1800, the year the original resolutions 
were destroyed with the Alexander residence, and Martin had also 
read the proceedings of the delegates printed in The Cape Fear 
Mercury of June, 1775. 

(3) While collecting material for this history, Martin was daily 
associated with five members of the Legislature from Mecklenburg 



10 



OFFICIAL PROGRAMME 



county who were present when the Declaration was adopted, two 
of whom were delegates and signed the resolutions ; and previously 
Martin had known at least one member of the Continental Con- 




CITY HALL 

gress, who received a special copy of the Declaration from the 
delegates at Charlotte. 

I - (4) At the time Martin wrote his history, 1791 to 1809, all the 
facts he recorded were to be had from living witnesses, and as he 
was a man of fine personal character and integrity, why not accept 
his narrative as to what was done at Charlotte on May 19-20, 1775? 



TWENTIETH OF MAY CELEBRATION 11 



City of Ch^rktk and County of 
Weckknburg 



MECKLENBURG county was first a part of Anson county. It 
became a separate county by an act passed by the Colonial 
Legislature in 7162. The preamble to the charter reads: 
" Whereas by Reason of the large Extent of the County of Anson, 
it is greatly inconvenient for the inhabitants to attend Court of the 
aforesaid County, general Musters, and other public Duties by Law 
required : Be it therefore enacted by the Governor, Council and 
Assembly, and it hereby enacted by the authority of the same, 
That from and after the first Day of February, the said County of 
Anson shall be, and is hereby divided into two distinct Counties, by 
a Line beginning at Lord Carteret's Line, six miles North-East 
from Captain Charles Hart's plantation on Buffalo Creek, and to 
run from thence to the North of Clear Creek, which empties itself 
into Rockey River, below Captain Adam Alexander's place : and 
from thence due South to the Bounds of the Province of South 
Carolina : And that all that Part of said County which lies to the 
Eastward of said dividing Line, shall be a distinct County, and re- 
main and be called by the Name of Anson County; and that all that 
part of the Said County lying to the Westward of said dividing 
Line, shall be henceforth one other distinct County, and called by 
the Name of Mecklenburg." 

(^* t^^ t(?* 

About six years after this, on the 7th of November, 1768, an 
act bearing the name of King George III, establishing a town in 
Mecklenburg County was passed. John Frohock, Abraham Alex- 
ander and Thomas Polk were ' ' seized in fee ' ' of 360 acres of land 
which had been granted them, and on these 360 acres the town of 
Charlotte was started. The act stated that the town was estab- 
lished "because of the healthfulness of the place and the convenient 
situation thereof for trade." 

5^* t^* (^* 

Settlers first began migrating to Mecklenburg in 1745, coming 
from three directions. The Scotch-Irish came from Western Penn- 
sylvania and Virginia ; the Germans from the same region ; and 
English, Scotch, Germans, Huguenots and Swiss from Charleston 
and Georgetown. The Scotch-Irish came in the greatest numbers, 
though, and to them belongs the greatest credit for settling the 
county. 



12 OFFICIAL PROGRA MME 

The present site of Charlotte was, because of its central loca- 
tion, naturally chosen as the county-seat, but this was not done 
permanently, because of much dissention, until 1774, when it was 
ordered that a court house be built here. 

It was in this court house, about 2 o'clock on the morning of 
May 20th, 1775, that the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence 
was signed. The old court house, a log structure, supported by a 
foundation of brick, stood in what is now known as Independence 
Square, at the intersection of Tryon and Trade streets, and is 
marked by a large iron plate. 

^* (^* ^* 

Charlotte and Mecklenburg were named for Princess Charlotte 
of Mecklenburg, who, in 1761, became the wife of George III of 
England. There are two small duchies in North Germany that are 
known as Mecklenburg-Schwerin and Mecklenburg-Strelitz. Prin- 
cess Charlotte was of the latter duchy, and she went from there to 
become the bride of King George. 

t^* t^* (,?• 

Charlotte is sometimes known as the Hornet's Nest City. The 
name was given it by Lord Cornwallis, who commanded a British 
troop that fought the Mecklenburg Militia in the streets of the 
town, in the fall of 1780. In writing to the Earl of Dartmouth 
afterward, he stated that he got into a veritable hornet's nest when 
he came to Charlotte town. 

%^> i^* ^* 

The first educational institution in this part of the South was 
located in Charlotte. It was chartered by the Legislature as the 
Queen's Museum, in 1771, but was generally known as Queen's 
College. The college was located at the site of the present court 
house. 

<^* ((?* t^* 

The population of Charlotte at the outbreak of the Civil War 
was scarcely 2,000. With the reconstruction days, the population 
began to increase steadily. When the country was relieved of mili- 
tary government and conditions became normal once again, the in- 
crease, both in population and business was pronounced. In 1880, 
its population was 6,000 ; in 1890, about 11,000, and in 1900, about 
20,000. The past six years have added greatly to the population 
and business volume of the city. A conservative estimate now 
places the population of the city and its suburbs at 40,000. 



TWENTIETH OF MAY CELEBRATION 



13 



th^ Cekbr^tion Wa^ the twentieth, 

1844 



BY DR. J. B. ALEXANDER. 



IT has been the custom of all the people in all the ages to cele- 
brate the greatest events of history, and it is peculiarly fitting 
for us to celebrate each returning anniversary of the Twen- 
tieth of May ; that it may be impressed upon the minds of the 
young from one generation to another. We have records of some 
notable ones in 1825 and in 1835, that were attended by men who 
participated in the war of the Revolution. 

I remember distinctly the celebration of May the Twentieth, 
1844. The exercises were held in the yard of William Junius Alex- 




CARNEGIE LIBRARY 

ander, Esq. , on the lot now occupied by the court house. A dinner 
was prepared and served on a long table between the monument 
and Tryon street, that would seat between 50 and 100 people. The 
cost of a seat was $5. This was the beginning to raise money 
to build a monument to the signers of the Declaration of Indepen- 
dence. 

The county had at that time but three living men who had been 
soldiers in the war of Independence, and but one of whom was 
able to attend the celebration, viz.. Major Tommy Alexander, then 
in his 84th year. He was placed in a large arm chair, at the upper 



14 



OFFICIAL PROGRAMME 



end of the table : he looked very old and was quite feeble. After 
they had dined, James W. Osborne, then a young man, compara- 
tively, was called on for a speech. He stood beside Major Tommy 
Alexander, and, after speaking awhile, he turned and placed both 
of his hands over the Major's head, and I could see the tears trick- 
ling down the old soldier's cheek ; and every one sitting at the 




UNITED STATES POSTOFFICE 

table were turned around, looking at the scene. It was certainly an 
impressive one, 

Ephriam Brevard, from Lincoln county, was chief marshal, and 
after Judge Osborne's speech, he walked up to the table and placed 
a $20 bill down, and called upon the descendents of the signers and 
lovers of liberty to follow suit. He said if that was too much, to 
put down a $10 or a $5 bill. To my youthful eyes it looked like a 
mighty pile of money. But the monument has been built. 



J1 Eegal lyoliday. 

The Legislature of the State of North Carolina has enacted the 
20th of May as a legal holiday, and it is observed with befitting 
ceremonies every year. 



TWENTIETH OF MAY CELEBRATION 15 





''that Cape Tear Wercury*' 

BY PROF. ALEXANDER GRAHAM. 





SUCH is the heading in The Charlotte Observer of January 1st, 1906, in a 
report made by the Charlotte committee, consisting of Dr. George W. 
Graham, Mr. R. 0. Alexander and Mr. Alexander Graham. In the report 
these gentlemen make five succinct statements, showing why they concluded 
the Miller paper was not genuine, and conclude by printing that the committee 
is of the opinion that it did not see in the possession of Dr. Miller either a 
genuine copy of The Cape Fear Mercury or a copy of the one Dr. Miller 
printed in Collier's Weekly, in July, 1905. The report was signed: 

(Signed) Geo. W. Graham, 
R. 0. Alexander, 
Alexander Graham. 

In this report, printed as stated above, January 1st, 1906, is the following 
note : Baltimore, Dec. 30, 1905 : Gentlemen of the Committee from Charlotte, 
N. C. Dear Sirs: — I agree to secure the opinion of Worthington C. Ford (by 
direct written request upon him) within five days of this date as to the authen- 
ticity of The Cape Fear Mercury now in my possession. Yours truly, 

S. MiLLiNGTON Miller, 

I have been requested to write a short sketch of the committee's visit to 
Baltimore to see Dr. Miller and the copy of The Cape Fear Mercury, which he 
agreed to show us with a view of selling the same, and also to secure our 
affidavits as to its genuineness. My sole object in complying with your request 
is because, in the recent April number of The American Historical Review, Mr. 
Worthington C. Ford has written an article in which he takes the credit, with 
the aid of Mr. A. Sally, Jr., of Columbia, S. C, of destroying the S. Millington 
Miller forgery, as he calls it, and ignores the Charlotte committee and their re- 
port entirely; thus making it appear to the readers of The Review that the 
Miller paper was destroyed by the enemies of the May Twentieth Declaration, 
instead of by the friends of that Declaration. 

Unfortunately for Mr. Worthington C. Ford, the Charlottee committee 
printed their report on January 1st, 1906, and sent copies to Ford and Miller 
while his report was not printed until January 12th, 1906. Had it not been 
for the courtesy and the intercession of the Charlotte committee, Mr. Ford 
would never have seen the Miller Mercury. On behalf of the committee I wish 
to place on record a solemn protest against Ford's most remarkable statement in 
The Historical Review: That notwithstanding the Charlotte committee's very 
first statement that it objected to the paper exhibited in Baltimore because it 
contains only two columns, while the fac-simile printed in Collier's, in July, con- 
tained three; and notwithstanding the committee told Mr. Ford in Washington 
December 30th, 1905, after meeting Miller in the morning, and a few days later 
sent him a joint telegram, reasserting that the paper Miller showed in Balti 
more was a two-eolomn paper, Mr. Ford says he thinks Miller showed the 
Charlotte committee a three-column paper, because Mr. Miller said the Char- 
lotte committee was mistaken in their report that the paper was two columns. 



16 



OFFICIAL PROGRAMME 



Our opinion is set aside by this expert; and a man he calls a forger and 
whom he proves a liar is said to be right, in his contention that the paper con- 
tained thi-ee. The Charlotte papers are open to him to explain his wonderful 
conclusion. He goes out of his way to say that Andrew Stevenson would hardly 
borrow a paper and fail to return it. The record in the British office says: 
"Taken out by Mr. Turner for Mr. Stevenson and never returned." Mr. 
Brown, of the firm of Brown & Stephens, wrote me this winter that that record 
was in London to-day, just as Wheeler and Draper say it was there at the 
close of the Confederate War. The record contradicts Mr. Ford's opinion. Let- 
ters and telegrams, in Governor Stevenson's possession, show that it was once 
in Andrew Stevehson's possession ; and although this gentleman lived during 




UNITED STATES ASSAY OFFICE 



twenty years of the warm discussion of this paper, he never broke the silence 
which would have forever settled this once-mooted question. 

With your permission, I will as briefly as possible show how the Millington 
paper was destroyed by the friends of May Twentieth, 1775. 

The Colonial Governor Martin, in June, 1775, sent to the Earl of Dartmouth 
an enclosed newspaper, containing resolves of a set of men, stiling themselves 
a committee for Mecklenburg, most traiterously declaring the entire dissolu- 
tion of the laws, government and constitution of this country. In another let- 
ter he alludes to this enclosure "as The Cape Fear Mercury," and calls his 
Lordship's attention to the fact that in this paper he will find the proceedings 
of a committee at Wilmington declaring that he, the Governor, is denounced as 
an enemy to this province in particular and to America in general. 

The value of The Mercury hinges on the fact that if found it would settle 
forever all discussion of the most mooted question since the Discovery of 



TWENTIETH OF MAY CELEBRATION 



17 



America, to wit, the authenticity of the May Twentieth Declaration. 

When Wheeler, the North Carolina historian, visited London, the news- 
paper was missing and the minutes of the council and the letter were still there. 
A memorandum was there, says Wheeler, at that time and Messrs. Brown & 
Stephens, of No. 4 Trafalgar Square, London, wrote me last December that it 
was still there and read, ' ' Taken out by Mr. Turner for Mr. Stevenson and 
never returned, dated August 15, 1837, ' ' The Stevenson referred to was Andrew 
Stevenson, and he was U. S. Minister of the Court of St. James. When Wheeler 
returned to this country, Stevenson was dead, but Governor Stevenson, his 
son, wrote him that telegrams and letters showed that the lost Mercury had 
been in his possession, but the paper could not be found. 

Mr. Noel Sainsbury, late keeper of the London printing office, wrote me that 




NORTH GRADED SCHOOL BUILDING 

he sometimes received as many as 75 inquiries in one day, extending from Maine 
to Missouri and from there to California, about the lost Mercury. 

"I do not exaggerate," he writes, "when I say I believe I could get its 
weight in Bank of England notes, if I could produce the lost Cape Fear Mer- 
cury." 

Dr. Miller, on a visit to Charlotte, was told all the above facts by Dr. 
George W. Graham. Miller said he would find that paper. He received from 
Dr. Graham a copy of Ramsay's Broadside, of the Mecklenburg Declaration, 
which contained three resolutions, some preliminary remarks and the names of 
twenty-nine signers. Miller also tried to purchase Allmands' Remembrancer 
from Dr. Graham. This, he saw, contained many letters of 1775 and 1776, etc. 

Nothing of these circumstances would ever have been thought of again, but 
in July, 1905, a single page in Collier's Weekly created a greater commotion in 
the historical world than any single page written in half a century; because it 
purported to exhibit to the world a fac-simile of the long lost Cape Fear Mer- 
cury, found by Dr. S. Millington Miller among the papers of Andrew Steven- 
son. The paper was dated June 3rd, Friday, and was numbered 294. The cut 



18 



OFFICIAL PROGRAMME 



represented a three-column sheet's first page, with English coat of arms, had 
some preliminary remarks and three resolutions as we now see them in the 
Davie copy, with the names of six of the signers at the bottom of column one 
closing with the name Ochiltree. 

The writing below in Collier's said there follows below the names of twenty- 
three other signers. The first word in column two was the syllable "ford" 
which was half the name Medford, a Massachusettes village, containing a 
list of the killed and wounded of the Battle of Lexington. Only a few names 
were printed. I afterwards found the complete list in Allmands' Remem- 
brancer. These few printed names were all of column two. Column three was 
spaced, but contained nothing. The Colliers wrote Mr. R. O. Alexander that 
they were not in a habit of printing fakes, showing the paper was thought by 




SOUTH GRADED SCHOOL BUILDING 

the editors to be genuine. Mr. Alexander arranged with Miller that he would 
show the original to a Charlotte committee, consisting of Dr. George W. 
Graham, Mr. R. O. Alexander and Mr. Alexander Graham, which committee, 
if satisfied, was to make affidavits as to its authenticity. The place was Balti- 
more, the time Saturday, December 30th, 1905. In the Hotel Bellevidere, Dr, 
Miller exhibited a sheet printed on one side only, which he claimed was a sup- 
plement of The Cape Fear Mercury. The reader will note in Collier's he calls it 
the first page of the Mercury. 

Miller said, when exhibiting it: "This paper and the letter enclosing it is all 
I have left; they have even stolen— the Broadside you gave me. Dr. Graham." 
The paper contained the preliminary remarks contained in Collier's first column; 
then followed the names of twenty-nine signers and among them (as No. 6) 
Ochiltree. The names of the signers did not fill the first column. A letter dated 
Salem, Mass., May 25th, was commenced continuing with a list of the killed 
and wounded at the Battle of Lexington, and the space left in c(>lumn two was 
spaced with two or three short Colonial news items. The Salem letter had the 
syllable "ford" three or four lines from the top of column two, and was written 
undivided "Medford." 



OFFICIAL PROGRAMME 



91 



There was silence in that room after Miller handed Dr. Graham the Mercury 
and handed Alexander Graham the Stevenson manuscript, which he said was 
wrapped around it. 

Miller informed R. O. Alexander that he had been offered $5,000 by two 
parties— one, I think, in Mississippi, and the other in New York or North Caro- 
lina—but would give him the preference over all. Miller now remarked: "Gen- 



Y/' 




IKISSH. 




MONUMENT 

To Lieut. Shipp 



MONUMENT 
To Signers of Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence 

tlemen, you are all sawing wood. Why don't you say something?" Alexander 
Graham asked him where he found the paper. He said: "In a package of 
several thousand letters, I purchased at auction. The Mercury was folded 
twice and enclosed in the Stevenson letter you hold in your hand, which letter 
you will see refers to the within newspaper and is signed A Stevenson" 
None of the committee could make out a single word except the signature, 
which was genuine, and the date, which was February 17th, 1837. The letter 



20 



OFFICIAL PROGRAMME 



was genuine; was plainly marked by postoffice officials "Missent" in print let- 
ters, and redirected by Thacker in red ink. Dr. Graham, on examining the 
letter, explained to him that the word he, Miller, called "Within newspaper" 
read, "Within permission" or "Written permission, " but it was nothing about 
a newspaper. At all events, the letter was of no value as evidence as it was 
clearly dated February 17th, 1837, whereas the lost paper was not missing 
until August 15th, 1837, six months later. This floored Miller, who saw the 
connection between letter and paper dissolve into the air, and although the 
colloquy had lasted scant twenty minutes, showed signs of wanting to leave the 




ELIZABETH COLLEGE 

room. Alexander Graham produced two photographs of two genuine Mercuries, 
sent him from the British office by Stephens & Brown Company, No. 4, Trafal- 
gar Square, London, one dated December 29th, 1773, with coat of arms as in 
Collier's, and numbered 204, and the other dated July 28th, 1775, without coat of 
arms, and numbered 266. He was told that there were five of these Mercuries 
in London and all two-column papers. I laid the photographs down on the cover 
of the bed, side by side with Miller's two-column paper, and called attention to 
the similarity of the three as to the number of columns, type and general 
appearances. Miller enthusiastically remarked "Another evidence of the genu- 
ineness of my paper. ' ' The astounding fact was now called to his attention that 
June 3rd, 1775, was numbered 294, while July 28th, 1775, was numbered 266, 
Miller thereupon opened his valise and produced an old Philadelphia Colonial 
paper, with a similar discrepancy and claimed this as another evidence of the 
genuineness of his paper. Dr. Graham also called attention to the syllable 
"ford," not being at the top of column two, but that Medford, undivided, was 
several lines below. 



TWENTIETH OF MAY CELEBRATION 21 



This criticism was lost on Miller as he said that the Colliers people had 
played havoc with his photograph and material and otherwise had treated him 
outrageously. The interview had now lasted 25 minutes, and Miller wished to 
know what we proposed to do, and Dr. Graham told him none of us were satis- 
fied as to the genuineness of his paper. Dr. Graham suggested that he would 
submit his paper to the inspection of an expert, and also suggested Mr. 
Worthington C. Ford, in charge of manuscripts in the Congressional Library, at 
Washington. Miller agreed to this, but changed his mind and gave the gentle- 
men the note cited at the beginning of this paper, and bade us good morning. 
The committee agreed, if Ford said the paper was genuine, to purchase the 
same. According to the written agreement. Miller met Ford on Jannary 5th, 
and, mirabile dictu, Miller exhibits to Ford a three-column paper and swears it 
is the same exhibited to the Charlotte committee, and all three of the commit- 
tee are mistaken when in their written report, they say he exhibited a two- 
column paper in Baltimore. Ford says the Broadside which Miller said in Balti- 
more was stolen from him, was hanging up in Miller's room framed. 
Ford states in his report of January 12th that the syllable '"ford" in the 
three-column paper shown him, did not occur on top of column two but was 
several lines down the second column. This proves that Miller not onlydid not 
show the Charlotte committee the same paper he showed Ford, but he showed 
Ford a different paper, by Ford's own statement, from the three-column paper 
printed in Collier's paper, as that paper has "ford" quoted on top of column 
two. How important is that syllable "ford" as a witness, and how much 
better witness than the Washington expert "Ford?" The Charlotte commit- 
tee had in their possession a photograph of the Worchester, Mass., Library 
Cape Fear Mercury, dated November and No. 7. They also had a copy of a 
letter of the New England Photographic Company, saying that they had photo- 
graphed No. 7 for S. Millington Miller, and that he wanted a reversed negative 
of same. The Worchester paper was three columns, and was perhaps the model 
used by Miller in imposing on Colliers. He afterwards may have written to 
London and, learning the Mercuries over there contained only two columns con- 
cluded to try a two-column paper on the Charlotte committee. The fact that he 
kept them waiting so long makes this probable. He failed signally to deceive the 
Charlotte trio with a two-column, and as a last resort, he tries the three-column 
on Ford. The No. 294, he could not change as he had photographed it in Col- 
liers. The Charlotte committee also knew that the first Mercury was printed in 
October, 1769, and if issued regularly, allowing for one leap year, the number 
for June the second would be 295. Miller forgot the leap year and put it 294 — 
this is very evident. He was not aware but the Charlotte committee knew that 
the editor of The Cape Fear Mercury failed 29 weeks to get his paper out and 
therefore July 28th, 1775, was numbered 266, and June 2nd, not June 3rd 1775, 
as Miller had it, should be 258, counting back from July 28th, instead of 294, as 
Miller photographs it in Colliers. The discriminating public is asked to read 
Mr. Ford's report, and decide what he did as an expert to add to the report of 
the Charlotte committee that would warrant his assuming so gleefully in The 
American Historical Review that Sally and he did destroy the Miller paper. 
The Miller paper was destroyed by the friends of the May Twentieth Declara- 
tion on January 1st, 1906. 



22 OFFICIAL PROGRAMME 



OFFICIAL PROGRAMME 

t^* %P^ t^* 

Celebration Mecklenburg Declaration of Inde- 
pendence. 

f^ t<^ v* 

CHARLOTTE, R C, MAY 21-26, J906 
Monday 



1 1:00 A. M.-The Third Regiment Band will play until 12:30 
o'clock on the Grand Stand at the corner of South Tryon and Second 
streets. 

2:30 P. M. — Balloon ascension at the Fair Grounds. 

4:00 P. M. — Exhibition drill by U. S. troops of Infantry, Cav- 
and Marines (Regular Army) at the Fair Grounds. Marine Band and 
Third Regiment Bands will play during the exercises. 

7:30 P. M. — Carnival of Lights on main streets. 

United Commercial Travelers' Carnival on South Church Street 
and Battery "A " Carnival at the Fair Grounds. Open from 8 a. m. 
until midnight. 

9:00 P. M. — Reception at Southern Manufacturers' Club to Home 
Comers and Visitors. 

DON'T FAIL TO VISIT 



The Southern Wareroom of 

Chas.M'Stieff 



Manufacturer 

of the PIANO with the 
SWEET TONE. 



5 West Trade St. - - - - C. H- Wilmoth, Mgr. 



TWENTIETH OF MAY CELEBRATION 23 

OFFICIAL PROGRAMME 

(^* ^* ^^> 

Celebration Mecklenburg Declaration of Inde- 
pendence* 

t^* ^* (^* 

CHARLOTTE, N. C, MAY 21-26, J906» 
Tuesday 

9:30 A. M. — The Third Regiment Band and Keesler Concert 
Band will play for an hour on the Grand Stand at the corner of South 
Tryon and Second streets. 

I 1:00 A. M. — Military and Fireman's Street Parade. Regular 
Army Troops, State Troops, Veterans and City Fire Departments 
will take part in this parade. Human flag on Grand Stand at the 
corner of South Tryon and Second streets. Governor R. B. Glenn 
and his staff will view the parade in full uniform. 

12:30 P. M.— Veterans' Drill in front of the Grand Stand at the 
corner of South Tryon and Second streets. 

3:30 P. M. — Balloon Ascension at the Fair Grounds. 

4:00 P. M.— Exhibition Drill by Infantry, Cavalry and Marines 
(Regular Army) at the Fair Grounds. Governor Glenn and his staff 
will attend. Marine and Third Regiment Bands will play at these 
exercises. 

7:30 P. M.— Carnival of Lights on main streets. 

8:30 P. M. — Special concert by Marine Band in Academy of 
Music (benefit of Marine Band). 

United Commercial Travelers' Carnival on South Church street 
and Battery "A" Carnival at the Fair Grounds. Open from 8 a. m. 
until midnight. 



Hear with your own ears, 
see with your own eyes the 
wonderful _ _ - 



Stie ff Self=Vlayer 
Viano ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ 



5 WEST TRADE ST. I C. H. WILMOTH, Mgr. 



24 OFFICIAL PROGRAMME 



OFFICIAL PROGRAMME 






Celebration Mecklenburg Declaration of Inde- 
pendence* 

«^* ^* 5(9* 

CHARLOTTE, N. C, MAY 2J-26, I906» 
Wednesday 



1 1 :00 A. M. — Floral Parade; also Industrial Floats and Deco- 
rated Automobiles. 

1 2:30 P. M.— Speech by Hon. Champ. Clark, of Missouri, Sub- 
ject, "The United States in the Twentieth Century." 

4:00 P. M.— Exhibition Drill by Infantry, Cavalry and Marines 
at the Fair Grounds. Marine and Third Regiment Bands will furnish 
music. 

7:30 P. M.— Carnival of Lights on main streets. 
8.00 P. M. — Red Men and Haymaker's Parade with Torches. 
Red Men dressed as Indians. 

9:00 P. M.— Grand Fireworks Display and Night Balloon 
Ascension in the rear of South Graded School. 

United Commercial Travelers' Carnival on South Church street 
and Batteiy "A" Carnival at the Fair Grounds. Open from 8:00 A. 
M. until midnight. 

PIANOS 'T.ror° Chas. \iTtieff 

Manufacturer of the Piano with the Sweet Tone. 



Southern Wareroom .--..- NO. 5 WEST TRADE ST. 

C. H. WILMOTH, Mgr. 



TWENTIETH OF MAY CELEBRATION 



25 



OFFICIAL PROGRAMME 

^* t(?* t^* 

Celebration Mecklenburg Declaration of Inde- 
pendence* 

(^W ^9* ti?* 

CHARLOTTE, N. C, MAY 2U26, 1906. 
Thursday 



1 1 :00 A. M. — United Commercial Travelers' and Fraternal 
Orders. Street Parade. 

1 2:00 Noon. — Speech to Fraternal Orders by Hon. E. Y. 
Webb, at Vance Park. 

12:30 P. M. — Grand Horseback Tournament at the Fair 
Grounds. 

2:30 P. M. — Firemen's Exhibition Fire Fighting Drill, opposite 
the Grand Stand, at the corner of Second and South Tryon streets. 
Third Regiment Band will participate. 

4:00 P. M.— Exhibition Drill by Cavalry. 

7:30 P. M. — Carnival of Lights on main streets 

United Commercial Travelers' Carnival on South Church street 
and Battery "A" Carnival at the Fair Grounds. Open from 8 a. m. 
until midnight. 



4V^ 
^A^' 


See the $2500 Art Grand 
Piano at 

Stieff's Southern Wareroom, 
5 West Trade St. 

C. H. WiLMOTH, - - Mgr. 





26 OFFICIAL PROGRAMME 



Independence Wcnument 

A handsome granite monument, 40 feet high and of obelisk 
design, stands directly in front of the court house. It is called 
Independence Monument and was erected "To the Signers of the 
Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence." Around the base of 
the monument are four bronze plates, on one of which is inscribed 
the names of the Signers. The monument was unveiled May 20th, 
1898. 

''the Kohinoor/' 

The Honorable David Bennett Hill, of New York, after scan- 
ning all the pages of authentic records, declared that the Mecklen- 
burg Declaration of Independence was the " Kohinoor of gems in 
America's crown." 

th^ strongest of Evidence, 

Such historians and jurists as Jones, Martin, Foote, Hawks, 
Wheeler, Gaston and W. A. Graham have established the authenti- 
city of the Mecklenburg Declaration, not only by indirect testi- 
mony, but by the strongest of human evidence : The affidavits of 
men who were present and participated in the memorable meeting. 

''the nieckknburq Censor/' 

"When Mecklenburg's fantastic rabble, 
Renewed for censor, scold and gabble, 
In Chai'lotte met in giddy council, 
To lay the Constitution's ground-sill, 
By choosing men both learned and wise, 
Who clearly could with half-shut eyes, 
See mill-stones through, or spy a plot. 
Whether existed such or not ; 
Who always could at noon define 
Whether the sun or moon did shine. 
And by philosophy tell whether 
It was dark or sunny weather ; 
And sometimes when their wits were nice, 
Could well distinguish men from mice ; 
First to withdraw from British trust, 
In Congress they, the very first, 
Their independence did declare." 

[The above is the first of 260 lines of a poem entitled ' ' The 
Mecklenburg Censor," written by Adam Brevard, a brother to the 
author of the Declaration, less than two years after the meeting of 
the general committees in Charlotte. The poet, though ridiculing 
the delegates, furnished the first documentary proof of the gnuien- 
ness of the Declaration.] 



<t^- fe&Si fe&& &&:& &Si Si fe&:& &&;Si &^;& fe&:& &§:$■:&€;& &S:$i fe&& &S; Si fe&;^: t^& &€■:& 5^*. 

■ \ 

I CE NTR AL HOTEL i 

I Best Location in tKe City | 

ito In 

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m ^^=^^==^^=====^^^=^^=^^=—— '»* 

ill <»< 

* $30,000 spent in Modern Improvements. Hotel is strictly ■{■ 

ijSi modern and up-to-date and most comfortable in Western ii> 

Jjl North Carolina. ::::::::: ^ 

ili In 

iH 'n 

li^ Electric lights in every room. Electric elevator service day (0 

JlJ and night. Rooms with private bath. : : : : : tj/K 

iti m 

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Sitdboard J/ir Cine 

The Seaboard Air Line Railway will put on sale June ist summer 
excursion tickets to all summer resorts and seashore points, at very low 
rates. 

They will also sell week end tickets to nearly all points, to Wil- 
mington. These tickets will be sold Friday afternoon for 5 p. m. train 
Saturday and Sunday morning, good to return until Tuesday morning. 
From Charlotte this ticket will be $5.00 I'ound trip. 

For further information call on or address 

C. H. GATTIS, JAMES KER, Jr. 

T. P. A. Raleigh, N. C. C. P. A. Charlotte, N. C. 



"Y. & B. COAL'' 

PHONE 211 

1" 






May 20th 



Y. SB." Coal 



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m to prominent recog- 

tfi nition. One shows 

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^ HOMECOMFORTS 

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PHONE 211 



?v Yarbrough & Bellinger Company 



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ED. W. MELLON COMPANY 

NORTH CAROLINA'S LEADING CLOTHIERS 

We keep up with the Styles and handle the best in 
everything pertaining to the proper apparel of men. 

"IF YOU BOUGHT IT AT MELLON 'S IT FITS' 



WE TELL OUR CLERKS 



"Be Neat, Clean and Always Accurate" 

RESULT: Reliable Prescription Service; 
UNSURPASSED Soda Water Service 

HAWLEY'S PHARMACY 

At the Corner of Tryon and Sixth 

Go to the CLIMAX BARBERSHOP for a good shave 

HOT AND COLD BATHS 

14 NORTH TRYON STREET 

RHOTOGRARHS 

That are made right is v^^hat you want. Get our prices, 

O. U. RADER, No. 1 W^est Fifth Street 

TAKE HOME WITH YOU 

A Souvenir of Charlotte 

MECKLENBURG DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE— the full and authentic'text— printed 
on card board for framing with fac-simile signature of the signers. Price 25c. 

Also a large line of Artistic White Metal Novelties with a Shield showing Monument to Signers- 
Price 25c to $2.00. 

We carry a large line of Historical and Miscellaneous Books, and can furnish many rare and Tout of 
print volumes. 

STONE & BARRINGER COMPANY 

Book, Stationery and Art Store 

22 South Tryon Street 



Cutlery Corbin Locks g 



HARDWARE 



If you need aLnything in this line you 
will fiivd ii 9^i i : : : : : : 

Weddington Hardware Co. 



29 Esvst TraLde St. m 



R-efrigerattors Stoves 



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First NoLtional Bdtnk 

CHARLOTTE. N. C. 

ORGANIZED 1865 

CaLpita.1 aLnd Surplus - - - . $500,000.00 

Your business solicited. Elvery courtesy and accommodation extended 
consistent with safe banking. 

H. M. VICTOR.. CacsKier 



C. Va^leaLr Bottling Works 

ChoLrlotte, N. C. 

Make the Best 

SODA 

WATER 

DRINKS 

And Fill Orders Promptly 



TAKE ALL CARS GOING SOUTH 
FOR 

Military May Festival 

Under Auspices Battery **A** 

AT LATTA PARK 

FAIR GROUNDS 

THE HIGH CLASS MODERN 

MIDWAY AND PIKE 

Of the 20th of May Celebration 
TWENTY-FIVE 

Big^ High Class, Clean Shows 

TWO BRASS BANDS 

EXHIBITION PRACTICE FIRING DRILLS 
ON CATLING AND HOWISTER GUNS 
BY BATTERY "A" 

Dare Devil Doherty 

LEAPS A FORTY FOOT GAP 

ON BICYCLE TWICE DAILY IN OPEN AIR 

SOMETHING DOING ALL THE TIME 

GROUNDS OPEN FROM 9 A. M. TO MIDNIGHT 

All attractions under the personal supervision and management of 
MARK W. WILLIAMS, 1st Lieut. First Field Battery, N. C. N. G. 
C. B. TURNER, Promotor 













71 




If »ny.Jife|||]L 1 


1 








^^^S^^^^USSk ^ 




^' ..J^ 


ELIZABETH COLLEGE 


MAIN BUILDING 



High Grade College For 

YOUNG LADIES 



PERSONAL: 



If you have a daughter to educate it 
may interest you to : : : : 

VISIT ELIZABETH COLLEGE 

While in the City. 



Take street car marked Elizabeth, at Jordan's Drug Store on Trade street 
going East, and you will see the prettiest location for a Callege that you have 
ever seen, and can also get a fine view of the city. 

Elective Degree Courses, Schools of 

MUSIC, ART, EXPRESSION and BUSINESS 

Established Reputation for thorough work and good health. 
Catalogue sent on application. Address, 



Phone Number 361 



CHAS. B. KING, Pres. 



The Perfect Insurance Contract 

Is the New Double Indemnity Policy Issued By 
The Conservative Mutual Life Insurance Company 

IF YOU become blind, paralyzed, insane or oherwise 
permanently disabled, the Company will pay the 
premiums for you. Or, if you prefer, the Company 
will pay the policy while you are living in ten annual 
installments. If you die before all installments have 
been received, the remaining installments will con- 
tinue to your beneficiary. If you lose both arms, both 
legs, one eye and one limb, or one arm and one leg, 
you will also be entitled to the benefits for total disa- 
bility. If you are killed by accident, the amount of 
your policy is doubled. This is the Finest Contract 
ever Devised. 

Annual Dividend, Five- Year Dividend and Accumu- 
lation, and Nonparticipating Policies. The Conserva- 
tive's line of policies is complete and attractive 
Plain, understandable English used in their construction. 

Conservative Mutual Life Insurance Company 

CHARLOTTE. NORTH CAROLINA 



AGLNTS WANTED 

LIBERAL 

NON=FOREEITABLE 

RENEWAL 

CONTRACTS 

EXCELLENT 
TERRITORY 



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Grandest Amusement Enterprise Ever Introduced 



■^ 



THE GREAT 

United Gala Week Co. 

SEASON 1906 

JAMES E. FINNEGAN, Director General 

PLAIN DAVE MORRIS, General Representative 
Permanent Address, "Bill Board," Cincinnati, Ohio 

Charlotte, N. CMay 21-26 Inclusive 



30 
Big Shows 


^ 


i 


f ■■-■ ^ i 


A Clean 

Moral 

UP-TO-DATE 


Big 
Sensational 


^H 


1 


IP, 


Amusement 
ENTERPRISE 


Free Acts 


luM^^ni^ra^t ^ .^^^1 




■ ' 


Conducted 


Military 


^■Lfl 




m 


by American 


Band 


wHKKL 






Business Men 


FERRIS 


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of Brains 


Wheel 


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Energy 


Steam 


^^^^1 


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and 


Gondolas 


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HUSTLE 


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JAMES. E. FINNEGAN 

Will Handle any Amusement Enterprise 
Under the Sun 


^ 



V. 



Committees, Lodges and Firemen who are contemplating holding a 
Summer or Fall Festival will do well to call on or communicate with me at 
the Buford Hotel, Charlotte, N. C. I have new and original ideas for cele- 
brations and gala weeks. 

Sincerely yours, 

J AS. E. FINNEGAN, Dir. Gen. PLAIN DAVE MORRIS, Gen. Rep. 

JAS. FRANCIS GALLAGHER, Treas. 



The word MODEL means the BEST; 
The word BEST means the MODEL. 

MODEL STEAM LAUNDRY COMPANY 

CHARLOTTE, N. C. MODERN LAUNDERERS 

G E: M RESTAURANT 

"THE OL.D REL-IABI-E:" 

JOHN W. TODD & CO. Pro'rs. E. F. CRESWELL, Man'r 

1& SOUTH "TRVOINJ STREEX 

Best in the City — Always open. Fine Cigars. Lunch counter unequaled in South. 

FREE! FREE! FREE! 

Everybody visit the 

CHARLOTTE STEAM LAUNDRY 

OLDEST LARGEST BEST 

Ladies and Gents Garments of every description Dyed add Cleaned. 

219 SOUTH TRYON STREET. 

CELEBRATION 

Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence 

CHARLOTTE, N. C, MAY 20-24, 1906 

On account of the above occasion the Southern Railway will sell round trip 
tickets to Charlotte at rate of one first-class fare plus 25 cents for the round trip. 
(Minimum rate 50 cents) Tickets will be sold from all points in North Carolina, 
also from Senaca, S. C, Anderson, Greenwood, Columbia and intermediate points 
in South Carolina. Dates of sale May 10 to 24 inclusive, with final limit May 26, 
1906. 

For further information call on your ticket Agent or write 
J. H. WOOD, D. P. A., R. L. VERNON, 

Asheville, N. C. Charlotte, N. C. 

W. H. TAYLOE, G. P. A., BROOKS MORGAN, A. G. P. A.. 

Washington, D. C. Atlanta, Ga. 

SEAY & BUSTLER 



U P-T 0-D ATE PHOTOGRAPHERS 



Successor to J. H. VanNess. 

No. 21 North Tryon Street 

It's better to have your picture made by us now than wait till it's too late, 
then wish you had. 



M 

m 



a 

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M 



m 



ITRY A CASE 



I 

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i 

49 
49 
49 
49 
49 

i 

49 

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49 
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49 
49 
49 



DELICIOUS 




REFRESHING 



Bottled for the Retail 
Trade by the Charlotte 
Coca-Cola Bottling Co. 

If You are a Retail Merchant and do not 
Sell it Already 



It will not be the Last. 
Sales are Quick and the 
PROFITS GOOD 




'1t Sells Winter and Summer/^ 

It is the Quickest Selling 
Bottled Drink to b e 
Found in America 



LUTHER SNYDER, 

Secretary and Treas. 



m 

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m 
m 
m 
m 



8 m 






m 



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■ § Charlotte Coca=Cola Bottling Company § 1 



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®I|0 lufnrli 



CHARLOTTE, N. C. 

$40,000 spent in improvements. 

Centrally located and up-to-date in every respect 

Under the management of 

OFFERS 

An Excellent Table 

Large, Light, Cool Rooms 
Clean, Comfortable Beds 
Attentive Servants 




And every substantial comfort 
belonging to a WELL-KEPT 

MODERN HOTEL 



CHARLOTTE ROOF AND PAVING COMPANY 

Standard Gravel Roofers and 
Jobbers in Roofing Supplies 

CMARL.OXXE, _ _ _ - IMORTM CAROUIIMA 

the: deinny cafe: 

FIRST CLASS SERVICE 



OPEN DAY AND NIGHT 

W. D. WILKINSON, Manager 



If you care to see the handsomest equipped drug store in the South 

Ca.ll At 

JORDAN'S 

where you will find a cordial reception and everything else you may want. 

"WE NEVER. CLOSE" 

R.. H. Jordat.n & Co. 



Merchants & Farmers National Bank 

CHARLOTTE. N. C. . 

Capital. $200,000.00 Surplus. $100,000.00 

W e WaLrvt Your Business 

Four per cent. Interest paid on Time Deposits 
GEO. E. WILSON, President W. C. WILKINSON. Cashier 



Furniture CaLrpets Piatnos Orga^ns 

DO NOT FAIL TO VISIT THE 

PaLrker-GoLrdner CompaLnLy 

All the new Styles in Furniture and Carpets. The World's best in Pianos 
and Organs. Do not fail to see the Pianola and the Pianola Pianos. 

PAR.KER-GARDNER COMPANY 

16 West Trade Street 



DEPOSIT YOUR MONEY WITH 

THE CHARLOTTE NATIONAL BANK 

UNITED STATES DEPOSITARY 

charlotte:, im.c. 

B. D. HEATH, President W. H. TWITTY, Cashier 

Resources, $1,200,000 Deposits, $750,000 

The officers of the Charlotte National Bank cordially invite you to call at the Bank and 
talk with them about the many advantages to be gained by opening an account with them. 

1st. It helps your credit and standing with modem business men to pay your bills with 
checks on your bank, and creates a good impression. 

2nd. If you pay all your bills with checks the checks must be endorsed by party to whom 
payable before bank will pay them, and after they are paid by the bank are returned to you 
and are then legal receipts for every amount paid. 

3rd. You do not endanger the lives of yourself and family by having it known that you 
keep money in your home or store. The constant fear that your money might be stolen and 
yourself hurt or killed, robs you of rest and peace of mind and sleep. Open an account with 
us and see how you will be relieved. 

4th. It pays to be on good terms with a polite, clever banker. He is always glad to give 
you advice on business matters and to help you in many ways. 

Call in the Bank and ask for Mr. Twitty. the Cashier, or Mr. Jones, the Teller, and they 
will take much pleasure in talking over the matter with you, showing many other advantages 
that will interest you. 

Yours faithfully, 

W. H. TWITTY, Cashier. 



Joe Garibaldi Will Bruns Harry Dixon 

GARIBALDI & BRUNS 

An all the year attraction is found in 
our immense stock of 

Fine Gold Jewelry, Rich Cwt Glass, 

Sterling Silver, Diamonds, 

Hand Painted China 

We are sole agents for Libbey Cut Glass and Pickard's Hand-Painted 
China — two of the finest lines^of the kind in the United States. , 

Selection packages of anything we sell sent out to responsible parties. 
Quality and price guaranteed. 

GARIBALDI & BRUNS 



MAY 28 S906 



F. G. ABBOn & COMPANY 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



-OF- 



Charlotte, N. C. lllfMf™^^^^ 

Real Estate and Investment Brokers 

Ca.n Put You in Touch with the Best Investments in 
this Ra-pidly Developing Section of the South. 

North Carolina State 4s due 1910 and 1913. 

North Carolina State 6s due 1910. 

Municipal, County and State Bonds, 4 to 6 per cent. 

High Grade Industrial Bonds, 5, 6 and 7 per cent. 

High Grade Preferred Stocks, 6 and 7 per cent. 

Southern Cotton Mill Stocks, 6, 8 and 10 per cent. 

Southern Bank Stocks, 6, 8, 10 and 12 per cent. 

First Mortgage Loans on Improved City Property, 5 and 6 per ct. 

First Mortgage Loans on Improved Farming Lands, 6 per cent. 

High Grade Investments in City Real Estate. 

Rapidly Increasing Investments in Suburban Real Estate. 

Special Investments in Timber Lands in various parts of the 
State. • 

Sole Agents for the Suburban Realty Co. properties in Char- 
lotte. 

F. C. ABBOTT & COMPANY 

Charlotte, N. C. 

^1 n ) North Carolina Bankers Association. 

Memoers oi ^ American Cotton Manufacturers Association. 



ORGANIZED t874 

Commercwl 



national Bank 

Cb^rlotte, n. C 

URGEST CAPITAL AND SURPLUS OF ANY BANK IN THE STATE 

UNITED STATES DEPOSITORY 

$190 FOR EVERY $100 LIABILITIES 

Everything to be Desired in a Bdnl( Strength 

Large Resources 
Liberal Dealing 
Courtesy 
Experience 

All Departments are Conducted with Up4o=Date Methods 

FOUR P[R CENT INTEREST 

On time and Savings Deposits 
OFFICERS: 

R. A. DUNN, President W. E. HOLT, Vice President 

A. G. BRENIZER, Cashier A. T. SUMMEY, Assistant Cashier 

DIRECTORS: 

R. M. MILLER, Jr. L. BANKS HOLT R. L. GIBBON 

C. W. JOHNSTON E. C. HOLT H. C. ECCLES 

D. H. ANDERSON FRANCIS L. COXE 



/ 



LIBRftRY OF CONGRESS 



011 699 936 5 



A. H. WASHBURN, President and Treasurer 
CHAS. M. RAY, VIcc-Prcs't and Manager 




THE STAMP OF EXCELLENCE 



Call on or write us for anything 
"under tlie s un" in the Printing 
line except poor printing -- we 
don't do that kind, j^ j^ ^ j^ 



